Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov

Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov (Bulgarian: Александър Панайотов Александров) (born December 1, 1951, Omurtag, Targovishte Oblast, Bulgaria) is a retired Bulgarian cosmonaut. He is the second Bulgarian to have flown to space behind Georgi Ivanov. Aleksandrov was born in Omurtag, Bulgaria on December 1, 1951. He graduated from the Bulgarian Air Force Academy in 1974 and obtained a degree in technical sciences in 1983. In the Bulgarian Air Force, Aleksandrov rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Aleksandrov was selected as a Research Cosmonaut on March 1, 1978 as part of the Soviet Union's Intercosmos program. He then was selected as backup to Georgi Ivanov on the Soyuz 33 mission to the Salyut 6 space station. Subsequently, Aleksandrov was assigned to the prime crew of the Soyuz TM-5 mission to the Mir space station. On June 7, 1988, Aleksandrov launched aboard TM-5 as a Research Cosmonaut along with mission commander Anatoly Solovyev and Viktor Savinykh. Upon arriving at Mir,...